Mean Field Approximation

We consider the Landau-Zener problem for a Bose-Einstein condensate in a linearly varying two-level system, for the full many-particle system as well and in the mean-field approximation. The many-particle problem can be solved approximately within an independent crossings approximation, which yields an explicit Landau-Zener formula.

Different quantum phases of hard-core boson induced by dipole-dipole interaction with varying angles of polarization are discussed in this work. We consider the two most influential leading terms with anisotropy due to the tilted polarization of the on-site boson in the square lattice. To ensure the concreteness of this truncation, we compare our phase diagrams, obtained numerically from cluster mean-field theory (CMFT) and infinite projected entangled-pair state (iPEPS), with that of the long-range interacting model from quantum Monte Carlo. Next, we focus on the case where the azimuthal angle is fixed to φ = π/4. Using the mean-field analysis where the quantum spin operators are replaced by c-numbers, we aim to search for the underlying phases, especially the supersolid. Our results show a competing scenario mainly between two ordered phases with different sizes of unit cell, where first-order transition takes place in between them. With the help of CMFT and variational iPEPS, the phase boundaries predicted by the mean-field theory are determined more precisely. Our discoveries elucidate the possible underlying supersolid phases which might be seen in the ultracold experiments with strongly dipolar atoms. Moreover, our results indicate that an effective triangular optical lattice can be realized by fine tuning the polarization of dipoles in a square lattice.

Sexual reproduction presents significant challenges to formal treatment of evolutionary processes. A starting point for systematic treatments of ecological and evolutionary phenomena has been provided by the gene centered view of evolution which assigns effective fitness to each allele instead of each organism. The gene centered view can be formalized as a dynamic mean field approximation applied to genes in reproduction/selection dynamics. We show that the gene centered view breaks down for symmetry breaking and pattern formation within a population; and show that spatial distributions of organisms with local mating neighborhoods in the presence of disruptive selection give rise to such symmetry breaking and pattern formation in the genetic composition of local populations. Global dynamics follows conventional coarsening of systems with nonconserved order parameters. The results have significant implications for the ecology of genetic diversity and species formation.

We demonstrate some recent progress in understanding the anomalous behavior of liquid water, by combining information provided by recent experiments and simulations on water in bulk, nanoconfined, and biological environments. We interpret evidence from recent experiments designed to test the hypothesis that liquid water may display 'polymorphism' in that it can exist in two different phases--and discuss recent work on water's transport anomalies as well as the unusual behavior of water in biological environments. Finally, we will discuss how the general concept of liquid polymorphism may prove useful in understanding anomalies in other liquids, such as silicon, silica, and carbon, as well as metallic glasses which have in common that they are characterized by two characteristic length scales in their interactions.

In a nanographene ring with zigzag edges, the spin-polarized state and the charge-polarized state are stabilized by the on-site and the nearest-neighbor Coulomb repulsions, U and V, respectively, within the extended Hubbard model under the mean-field approximation. In a Möbius strip of the nanographene with a zigzag edge, U stabilizes two magnetic states, the domain wall state and the helical state. Both states have ferrimagnetic spins localized along the zigzag edge while the former connects the opposite ferrimagnetic orders resulting in a magnetic frustration forced by the topology and the latter rotates the ferrimagnetic spins uniformly to circumvent the frustration. The helical state is lower in energy than the domain wall state. On the other hand, V stabilizes another domain wall state connecting the opposite charge orders.

In the strongly correlated environment of high-temperature cuprate superconductors, the spin and charge degrees of freedom of an electron seem to separate from each other. A similar phenomenon may be present in the strong coupling phase of Yang-Mills theories, where a separation between the color charge and the spin of a gluon could play a role in a mass gap formation. Here we study the phase structure of a decomposed SU(2) Yang-Mills theory in a mean field approximation, by inspecting quantum fluctuations in the condensate which is formed by the color charge component of the gluon field. Our results suggest that the decomposed theory has an involved phase structure. In particular, there appears to be a phase which is quite reminiscent of the superconducting phase in cuprates. We also find evidence that this phase is separated from the asymptotically free theory by an intermediate pseudogap phase.

Rebinding of dissociated ligands from cell surface proteins can confound quantitative measurements of dissociation rates important for characterizing the affinity of binding interactions. This can be true also for in vitro techniques such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR). We present experimental results using SPR for the interaction of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) with one of its binding proteins, IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), and show that rebinding, even with the addition of soluble heparin in the dissociation phase, does not exhibit the expected exponential decay characteristic of a 1:1 binding reaction. We thus consider the effect of (multiple) rebinding events and, within a self-consistent mean-field approximation, we derive the complete mathematical form for the fraction of bound ligand as a function of time. We show that, except for very low surface coverage/association rate, this function is non-exponential at all times, indicating that multiple rebinding events strongly influence dissociation even at early times. We compare the mean-field results with numerical simulations and find good agreement, although deviations are measurable in certain cases. Our analysis of the IGF-I-IGFBP-3 data indicates that rebinding is prominent for this system and that the theoretical predictions fit the experimental data well. Our results provide a means for analyzing SPR biosensor data where rebinding is problematic and a methodology to do so is presented.

The optimized perturbation theory (OPT) method is applied to the SU(2) version of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model both at zero and at finite temperature and/or density. At the first nontrivial order, the OPT exhibits a class of 1/Nc corrections which produce nonperturbative results that go beyond the standard large-Nc or mean-field approximation. The consistency of the OPT method with the Goldstone theorem at this order is established, and appropriate OPT values of the basic NJL (vacuum) parameters are obtained by matching the pion mass and decay constant consistently. Deviations from standard large-Nc relations induced by OPT at this order are derived, for example, for the Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner relation. Next, the results for the critical quantities and the phase diagram of the model, as well as a number of other thermodynamical quantities of interest, are obtained with OPT and then contrasted with the corresponding results at large Nc.